Chats with The Press

Michael Szydlo, the co-founder and chief executive of the food industry customs agency Quick Declare, said that in some cases loads had incurred CUC fees of £3,000.

He has written to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs urging it to reduce the costs for imports, arguing they could cause permanent damage to food supply chains.

Michael Szydlo, who runs Quick Declare, a business advising importers and exporters, said clients have had to spend a whole day emailing back and forth with HMRC about lorries waiting at ports.

“There are a lot of issues showing that GVMS is not yet fully ready. Lots of importers will get delayed at some point,” he said. “There will be shortages from time to time. The situation needs to be sorted.”

"It is like we have gone back to medieval times and we are copying books by hand instead of using a printing press," said Michael Szydlo, founder of Quick Declare, a company that helps dozens of businesses import and export goods.

Michael Szydlo, who works with dozens of businesses on customs paperwork and procedures, said he believed it was impossible for Defra to prepare the new system before 1 January and that it was likely that many small firms would only discover problems when they attempt to ship goods in the new year.

“The whole system is makeshift and out of date. Nobody from government has so far confirmed that it will work when it goes live. How can companies prepare based on assumptions?” he said.

Michael Szydlo, an entrepreneur whose company provides software for businesses importing goods from the EU to the UK, said the additional checks are only going to make the situation worse, while government software for logging declarations will cause delays.

“I still get calls from European companies now who say ‘we’ve heard we need to do some customs declarations. What is that?’”, said Mr Szydlo.

“Many companies simply don't know what to do yet.”

One lorry load of food going from Poland could require certificates covering 300 different products, Szydlo said.

“It was like a trap. Lines of trucks lined the roadsides, far from any facilities: no toilets, no shops. Drivers also had no access to showers. In some places, only mobile toilets were set up. But these were few and far between, and long lines were forming for their use.”